Purpose team members participated in a day of service last Friday at the Union Street Community Garden in partnership with New York Cares.
The garden is located on top of the Eastern Parkway Shuttle Station in Brooklyn. After being closed in the 90s by the MTA for a subway station renovation nearby, GreenThumb formed a settlement fund and GrowNYC helped local gardeners rebuild and reimagine the space. The DEP designed a shade structure and plantings to hide the roof of the station and added a permanent water system. Today, the garden is utilized and visited by many members of the community and it raises a significant amount of produce.
Gloria Briggs, who runs the garden, kicked off the day with a walking tour and history of the Union Street Community Garden. The Purpose team was then tasked with building a compost bin. Local Union Street gardeners currently lack an efficient system for recycling plant materials into compost and the new bin is designed to solve for this issue.
The Purpose team had the opportunity to get their hands dirty and really dig in…literally…
The New York Cares team gave tutorials on everything from ground leveling to how to use a saw without cutting off your own hand.
A big thank you to Gloria and Jared, Amy, and the rest of the New York Cares team for a great day of learning and composting!
Here are some of our favorite shots from the day:
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